Watch Avenged Sevenfold Unpack the Original Recording Session Files for “Bat Country”

Avenged Sevenfold’s “Breakdown” series of videos — in which members of the band sit in front of a computer loaded with the original session files for some of their best known songs — grinds on today with vocalist M. Shadows and bassist Johnny Christ dissecting the band’s breakout smash “Bat Country” from their 2005 album City of Evil.

Shadows’ vocal tracks — often doubled, tripled and more — get the spotlight in this one, along with some of the intricate drum work by the late Rev. The band also talks a bit about the series of events that led to the sudden and unexpected success of “Bat Country,” which came out well after the album had started to fade, and what came next.

The “Breakdown” videos have been absolutely PHENOMENAL to watch; even if you’re not an Avenged Sevenfold fan you’ll be able to appreciate the level of detail that went into writing these songs and producing their arrangements. You can catch up on some of those videos here.